Picture yourself co-authoring a study on nanoparticles for publication in a major chemistry journal … documenting the lives of people interred in an early 20th-century African-American cemetery … helping to feed the world’s hungry by studying the early development of maize endosperm … studying the sensory habits of manatees at a world-class marine research facility … or teaching marine science to low-income primary and middle-school students who have never touched a sea urchin.

Sound like graduate school? Wrong. It’s undergraduate work at New College of Florida, where all of these opportunities — and many more — are open to students because of the prestigious grants awarded to tenured professors. Whenever possible, faculty members link their own research and creative activities to their teaching, involving students in truly unique learning experiences.

As a result, our students are able to roll up their sleeves to participate in major scientific research and outreach projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement, the U.S. Army, AT&T Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities and diverse cultural organizations. New College has received over 79 awards totaling $6.5 million in research grants since 2001. Students have worked side-by-side with the faculty on all of them.

These amazing research opportunities are common occurrences at New College and offer students real-world research experience from day one.

In addition, Novo Collegians win a raft of National Science Foundation and other prestigious Federal grants for summer research. Our students have worked at the National Cancer Institute alongside some of the world’s leading scientists, studied astrophysics at the University of Michigan, conducted field work in historical archaeology, did physics research at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and interned in the primate enrichment program at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. These are just a few of the summer research projects that have engaged our ever-curious students during their “time off.”

Administered by the New College Alumnae/i Association, the Student Research and Travel Grant Program is available to New College students in support of their research (particularly thesis research), travel grants associated with tutorials and major projects, and support to present original work (posters or panel presentations) at professional conferences in an academic field. One student used a travel grant to study music and silence at a French monastery, where she sang three times a day in several languages and practiced silent prayer with 1,200 others.

If real-world, hands-on research is something you want in an undergraduate education, come to New College. You’ll be glad you did.